• Iconic Doomsday Clock remains at five minutes to midnight

    Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists: It is still five minutes to midnight — and much too close to doomsday. The minute hand of the Bulletin’s iconic Doomsday Clock has been at five minutes to midnight since January 2012. In explaining why the hand would remain so close to figurative doomsday, the Bulletin’s science and security experts focused on the failure of world leaders to take action which would reduce the possibility of catastrophe related to nuclear weapons and climate change.

  • B61-11 earth-penetrating weapon tested for first time in seven years

    One of the main purposes of the U.S. nuclear stockpile is deterrence, and one important way to assure deterrence is to have a successful surveillance test that shows that the systems in the stockpile work. Sandia’s annual surveillance program for each weapon type consists of flight tests, lab tests, and component and material tests. On 20 November 2013, researchers conducted a rocket-driven impact test of the nonnuclear components of the B61-11 earth-penetrating weapon, the first such test in seven years. Flight tests subject the weapon to shock, vibration, temperature, rotation, weather, and more. Sandia pulls random units from the stockpile for tests.

  • California bill would restrict selling, access to LPR-collected data

    A bill before the California State Senate would to prohibit law enforcement agencies and private firms in California from selling data collected by automatic license plate readers. (LPRs). The proposed Senate Bill 893 would prohibit LPR operators from selling data to non-law enforcement agencies or to non-law enforcement officials. Law enforcement access to LPR data retained for more than five years would require a court order.

  • U.S. refuses a bilateral no-spy agreement with Germany

    The United States has refused to enter into a bilateral no-spy agreement with Germany, and has refused to rule out eavesdropping on calls of German political leaders in the immediate future, according to reports in the German press. It now appears that hopes in Germany that the United States would agree to a bilateral non-spying pact — similar to agreements between the United States and Britain, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand — have been dashed.

  • Interim nuclear agreement with Iran goes into effect 20 January

    The United States and the EU announced Sunday that on 20 January Iran will start implementing November’s “comprehensive agreement.” One of the main clauses in the agreement calls for Iran to begin eliminating its stockpile of highly enriched uranium – that is, uranium enriched to 20 percent or higher — in eight days’ time from the start date. In addition to eliminating its stockpile of 20 percent enriched uranium before the end of January, Iran will also freeze other aspects of its nuclear program, accept more rigorous inspections of its nuclear facilities, and disable the cascade that produces 20 percent-enriched uranium. In exchange, Iran would receive some the relief from the sanctions, providing a $7 billion boost to the Iranian economy. The bulk of relief is in the shape of $4.2 billion in restricted Iranian assets which will be repatriated to Tehran in regular instalments throughout the six months until the deal concludes in July.

  • The Sochi games may be secure, but other parts of Russia may come under terrorist attacks

    While the upcoming Winter Olympics in Sochi will likely be secure, other parts of Russia may come under attack as rebels attempt to grab the global spotlight, experts say. “Muslim separatists would like to draw attention away from the Olympics as well as demonstrate that their struggle continues and that they haven’t been defeated,” Duke’s Michael Newcity says. “Since the Olympic Games are very much a vanity project for Russian President Vladimir Putin, it wouldn’t surprise me to see more bombings — perhaps not at the Olympics, since security will be so tight — but more likely in other parts of Russia.”

  • Iraq and its extremist problem: what now for the troubled state?

    By Anthony Billingsley

    The number of deaths in Iraq from attacks by extremist groups operating under the banner of Islam has been growing steadily since the withdrawal of American troops in 2011. In 2013, nearly 8,900 people died in extremist attacks. The level of casualties has been taken as an indicator of extremist political and military strength. This dreadful statistic is not just the result of the loss of American military, intelligence and political support. As evidenced by recent insurgent activity in Fallujah and Ramadi, Iraq now faces an assault on its sovereign integrity that is testing the organs of the state.

  • U.S. disaster preparedness threatened by funding problems

    The 9/11 attacks in New York City prompted large increases in government funding to help communities respond and recover after man-made and natural disasters. This funding, however, has fallen considerably since the economic crisis in 2008. Furthermore, disaster funding distribution is deeply inefficient: huge cash infusions are disbursed right after a disaster, only to fall abruptly after interest wanes. These issues have exposed significant problems with our nation’s preparedness for public health emergencies. Researchers list seven recommendations to enhance preparedness for public health emergencies in the U.S.

  • Funding gap makes the high costs of research at universities more onerous

    Although more opportunity exists for university-based researchers to be innovative, and there is more financial support for innovation than ever before, the cost of university research is rising to new levels and presents a serious funding problem. The “real costs” of research — costs that include indirect costs — often extend far beyond support from a university’s central research office and are almost never covered by funding. As a result, the aggressive research agendas set by universities have costs that often outweigh the ultimate revenue universities hope to gain from research.

  • Scotland would face terrorist threats even after independence: U.K. cabinet minister

    One of the arguments the Scottish National Party (SNP) makes for Scottish independence from the United Kingdom is that the risk of al-Qaeda-inspired terrorism against Scotland would diminish if Scotland were no longer associated with U.K. foreign policy. A senior cabinet member dismissed these assertions, pointing out that Islamic extremists have attacked smaller states in Europe, including Nordic countries like Sweden and Denmark, which the SNP regularly suggest as a model for an independent Scotland. James Brokenshire, the U.K. security minister, said that while the risk of terrorism against Scotland would not diminish, Scottish independence would make it harder for Police Scotland to fight serious organized crime.

  • Modernizing DHS border enforcement systems may cost more than $1.5 billion

    TECS is the primary DHS system that Customs and Border Protection (CBP) personnel use to screen foreigners against a variety of watchlists, and it manages case files for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). ICE assignments tracked include money-laundering probes, online pornography investigations, and phone data analyses. A GAO audit last month found that the planned $1.5 billion upgrade to TECS now has no foreseeable end-date or final cost estimate.

  • Thinking outside the box: Free public education that pays for itself

    A U.K. researcher proposes an innovative way to pay for college and graduate education: students would not pay for their education while at school. Rather, they will commit to paying a fixed percentage of their income (say, 6 percent) during their prime earning years (35-54, for example) to the university that awarded their degree. These student promises for a given university cohort will be bundled and sold to investors as “education securities.” Investors would receive a share of the average income for the cohort. Because average income moves with inflation, investors would be assured of getting their initial investment back plus whatever amount is necessary to cover changes in the value of their money. The securities could even be designed to include a real return (over inflation) of as much as 3 percent.

  • Bioterrorism fears lead scientists to withhold information on new strain of botulism

    The recent discovery of a new strain of botulism, the first in forty years, has alarmed California state health officials. The discovery was published in the Journal of Infectious Diseases in October 2013 — but the genetic sequence of the botulism toxin was removed from the report. The decision to withhold the sequencing information took into consideration the fact that there is currently no antitoxin capable of treating an outbreak of botulism, and that it takes about one to two years to develop an antitoxin. Should the classified information reach the wrong hands, a bioweapon, which can be spread as an aerosol, could be used to cause mass-casualty epidemic.

  • CIA sued over records surrounding the 1962 arrest of Nelson Mandela

    Ryan Shapiro, a Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Ph.D. candidate, filed a lawsuit yesterday (Tuesday) against the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) over the spy agency’s failure to comply with his Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request for records on the late Nelson Mandela. Shapiro wants to know why the CIA viewed Mandela as a threat to American security, and what actions the agency took to thwart Mandela’s efforts to advance racial justice and democracy in South Africa.

  • Russia’s most wanted terrorist eyes Olympic Games as target

    The Russian authorities are on high alert following the recent attacks in Volgograd. With the Winter Olympics in Sochi opening on 7 February, there are serious concerns that spectators and athletes will be targets of future attacks. Russia’s most wanted terrorist, Doku Umarov, recently declared that he is prepared to use “maximum force” to prevent the Olympics from occurring.